[B]URLINGTON — A small provision in the miscellaneous tax bill that passed the Legislature late last week is crucial to a massive downtown redevelopment, city officials say.
The provision makes two important extensions for the portion of Burlington’s waterfront tax increment financing district where a more than $220 million redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center mall area is planned by owner Don Sinex. It is to include the tallest buildings in the state and a mix of housing, office and other commercial space.
Burlington would reimburse the developer $22 million for his construction of street-level improvements, using TIF financing. That mechanism lets the city borrow to fund the improvements, then pay off that debt with a portion of the increased property taxes generated by the redevelopment.
Those improvements would include restoring through traffic to Pine and St. Paul streets through downtown, a top priority for city planners because the current mall property bisects the flow of traffic north to south through Burlington.
One extension the Legislature granted gives the city until December 2019 to incur debt for the portion of the waterfront TIF district where the redevelopment is planned. The other extends by 14 years, to 2035, the period during which Burlington can hold back the state education tax increment to repay the debt incurred to finance the public improvements.
Mayor Miro Weinberger thanked the Chittenden County legislative delegation for supporting the provision, calling it in a statement Monday a “major milestone” that ensures Burlington’s ability to pay for the infrastructure overhaul the redevelopment anticipates.
“This TIF extension approval — on the heels of last week’s strong City Council approval of the predevelopment agreement — represents another important step towards the transformation of two central blocks of our downtown,” Weinberger said.
The project still needs a number of regulatory approvals from city boards and councilors, and Sinex, the developer, has said he expects that process, if successful, will take another eight to nine months.
Voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on the project in November, when the city officials are expected to seek approval for the $22 million bond that would support the TIF investment.
